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Behind The Hustle :: Tracey Gobey, The Bootstrap Assembly

Author: Melanie Fawcett,
Producer on Purpose

Melanie Fawcett is the Founder and Head of Storytelling at Producer on Purpose, an educational hub and movement of mindful storytellers with a focus on empowering people and brands to share stories that matter. Mel writes and talks a lot, whether that be through video, digital content, old-fashioned books, speaking or teaching workshops that focus on forward thinking marketing meets mindful self development. Her first book #popphilosophy will be out in 2016.

This week, we tracked down the talented designer, branding genius and entrepreneur, OCer Tracey Gobey from The Bootstrap Assembly, based in Denver, US of A! We wanted to know how this lady scales the big mountains in her world and how it could help us scale our own…..

OC: It’s a sexy word that FEELS BIG, but what does the new breed of “entrepreneur” really mean in your world?

TG: For a long time the word “entrepreneur” had an “icky” feeling about it as I tended to only think about entrepreneurs as the greats like Oprah, Branson, Tony Robbins – not the little fish like me. So I like to think about an entrepreneur as anyone with a burning desire to step off the escalator and against all conventional wisdom and sanity, follow their unrelenting passion to build something for themselves to share with the world…no matter how big or small that thing is. They’re the people that get back up when they are knocked down, who stare fear straight in the eye and say “move over Mister, I’m coming through” – it may take some time, a few set backs and definitely some change with growth – but the ones that make it through and achieve their dreams are the entrepreneurs in my mind.

OC: What’s your elevator tweet?

TG: I run a design agency for folks who are ready to take bold steps towards making their mark on the world.

OC: You open your eyes, take a deep breath, what gets you movin’ to meet the sun?

TG: Mountains. Every time. They seem to just call me with a “c’mon I dare you!” I seem to not be able to resist – I always say, “nature is cocaine for the soul – the ultimate high”.

OC: WE ARE STALKING YOU {in a loving, totes not creepy way} – what will we see?

TG: I’m a bit of a slow starter in the day, so generally it’s get up, check the phone (which is a bad habit I want to break), make a cup of tea (can’t start without tea – black with milk), walk the grey dog, shower, change and sit down to start my work day. I’ve really been trying to plan days out a lot more strictly – so that’s generally the first thing I do at the desk – look at the list, map out times and then get cracking. With creative work, it’s hard to just turn on creativity like a switch so I do sometimes veer from the course to try to get the juices flowing. I have been tapping a bit recently and find that, or a walk outside generally gets me back in line. I really want to be better at carving out time to

OC: You’re a fictional character = who + why?

TG: Ok this is a toughy and I’m going to just say what came to mind first – i’d be the sausage dog on the film Pets. Stay with me here…any creature of that size that has the smarts to get up onto the kitchen counter, turn on the Kenwood so they can give themselves an all over body scratch is a pretty awesome little dude! If you haven’t seen the clip, you seriously need to Google it!

OC: What’s the brick wall challenge you are scalin’ like a ninja right now?

TG: I’m facing my fear about getting myself out there more. I have so many ideas for courses and content that have been stuck inside me, I need to learn to just implement. This is a pattern that has repeated for years so I know I have some work to do around it. It’s my mountain and you know what mountains bring out in me – this one will be conquered.

OC: EPIC books + podcasts that have blown the matrix of your mind?

TG: There are a few books that are standouts for me. The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna, Big Magic and one I read ages ago called Looptail by Bruce Poon Tip – he started G Adventures and really flipped the travel industry on its head.

OC: What’s your coffee religion and how do you worship?

TG: Well, in Australia it was a Capp. Since moving to the States, ordering coffee is more complex than starting a business! I finally figured out that our Capp is their Latte and chocolate powder is not a thing. So now, it’s a Latte…and it’s often not very good (#aussiecoffesnob)!

TG: I always quote this one and am trying to get better at it myself – “80% out the door is better than 100% in the draw”.

OC: You get your very own misty, dream sequence in a movie of your life, where 3 people alive or dead come to you like the ghosts of the Christmas past, present, future – who makes the cut?

TG: This is a tough one too. Past – I think I would love to speak to my Grandfather – he was such an awesome man who always had such sage advice, I kinda wish I had paid more attention when he was around. Present – I recently watched the Tony Robbins doco “I am not your Guru” and I would love to get some time with big Tone! So much passion and just gets to the crux of things so quickly. Future – probably myself in 20 years time, so I can remind myself that everything will be fine, go for it, stay true to you and kill it at your own game!